While Jeremy Renner and Hawkeye fans were annoyed that his character never showed up in ‘Avengers: Infinity War,‘ the reason has been revealed by the movie’s directors and writers in the ‘Avengers: Endgame‘ commentary.
It appears that at one point the actor was slated to be included, but the scene didn’t work with how ‘Avengers: Infinity War’ ended, and there was too much action to show him living under house arrest during the actual movie. Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely as well as Joe and Anthony Russo break down which scene was initially included and why it wasn’t put in the movie:
Joe: “Now, this scene was supposed to be in Avengers: Infinity War, after Thanos snapped his fingers. We thought it might be interesting to cut to a verite scene between Hawkeye and his family. I believe we tried it one cut of the film, and looked at it and said ‘Oh, that’s never gonna work. It’s too disorienting.'”
McFeely: “It was busy.”
Joe: “Yeah.”
McFeely: “In that movie, not to do a commentary for a different movie, but in that movie that ends with people disappearing on a planet in space, and they’re in Wakanda… if you added a third place…”
Anthony: “Right, we’re already cutting between a lot of people at that point in the film.”
Markus: “But it also works so well to restate the finality of what happened in Infinity War when you put it at the beginning of Endgame.”
Joe: “I think so. It brings you back emotionally very quickly. There’s a year between these films, and this movie helps to reset, and re-remind the audience of what happened in that movie and how you felt at the end of that film.”
Anthony: “But through a brand new perspective.”
Markus: “We didn’t see Clint at all in Infinity War. Here we have him, and he is hit hard.”
Joe: “We’re not pulling any punches at the opening of the film. This is basically like a scene from a horror film that opens the movie.”
McFeely: “And also sort of draws people in. I mean presumably, everyone who goes to this movie, by and large, saw the previous movie. So this is one of those instances where the entire audience is ahead of the character and filled with dread.”
Anthony: “Which is an unusual move. Usually, we never let the audience be ahead of the character.”
McFeely: “No, this is playing for suspense and not for surprise.”
This is a choice that is hard to argue with. Watching half of those who stood against Thanos turn to dust before their eyes was tragic and cutting to Hawkeye who hadn’t been in the entire movie may have felt disjointed. Knowing what was about to happen to him at the start of ‘Avengers: Endgame’ was the perfect way to make you dread what was about to occur. I’m sure most audiences were in suspense, knowing what was about to happen to Clint Barton’s family as soon as the movie started and that nothing could be done about it.
Knowing that Hawkeye was under house arrest do you feel that having him not in ‘Avengers: Infinity War’ was the right decision? Do you think that this scene worked more effectively as a gut punch at the introduction to ‘Avengers: Endgame’? Share your thoughts in the comments below, True Believers!
Source: Comic Book
